Worry over rule changes grows

Worry over rule changes grows

It may be the understatement of the year, but early poll results suggest worries about the impact of last July’s rule changes continues to grow as the market slows.

Early numbers from this year’s CMP Broker Sentiment Poll show brokers are even more convinced that the mortgage rule changes introduced by Ottawa last summer have had a detrimental effect on business.

Fully 87 per cent of those who voted cited a negative effect on business, compared to only 73 per cent in last year’s poll – taken before the latest regulation changes were brought into effect. Those numbers are subject to change.

This Friday marks the last day to have your say as part of the 2013 CMP Broker Sentiment Poll, the industry barometer of those issues and developments that most impact business for mortgage professionals.

The fifth-annual cross-Canada poll has already garnered opinions from brokers on such hot-button topics as lender service standards and stricter underwriting guidelines.

Of the hundreds who have already shared their thoughts, more than half have pinpointed stricter underwriting guidelines and poorer service from lenders as chief concerns for the coming year, and have issued a near-failing grade to Ottawa for the handling of mortgage regulation issues.